Yue, the Moon SpiritYue, the Moon Spirit | Illustrated by Yuumei

This is the Show With the Arrow Guy, Right?

Well, we're in the spoiler season for yet another Universes Beyond set, and once again, it's a theme I know nothing about. When I first heard that there was gonna be an Avatar set, my mind immediately jumped to tall blue aliens, and then I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I was quite wrong. Thank goodness! I can't even imagine how lame a Magic: The Gathering set based on a non-fantasy film franchise would be. Cough cough, Spider-Man. Luckily we're talking about Avatar: The Last Airbender, an imaginative world full of spells and iconic characters.

Today we're gonna be building a deck for Yue, the Moon SpiritYue, the Moon Spirit, a card that's not particularly unique but that presents a fun deckbuilding challenge. Let's see. We can pay five and tap her to cast any noncreature spell for free, but we can tap creatures and artifacts to pay that five mana as if that spell had convoke and improvise. Essentially, if we have five artifacts or creatures, we can cast Time StretchTime Stretch for free. Not bad!

Well, okay, it is actually pretty bad. This card is nearly identical in concept to Elvish PiperElvish Piper, a card that I thought was incredible when I just started playing Magic. You can put any creature onto the battlefield for one mana? That's insane! Right? Well, not exactly. You have to cast Elvish PiperElvish Piper for four mana first, and then you just hope it sticks around, despite very clearly being a threat. 90% of the time, it's just a way to lure out removal.

Patching the Weaknesses

Yue is exactly the same. We're gonna cast her, and our opponents are gonna remove her well before we can activate her ability. It's not gonna be great. Buuut, let's not assume this deck is gonna flop immediately. After all, we have Yue in the command zone, and that gives us 99 cards we can use to defend her. Not to mention, we're in blue, the color of protection spells! Let's throw in Mizzium SkinMizzium Skin, Shore UpShore Up, Slip Out the BackSlip Out the Back, and Teferi's Time TwistTeferi's Time Twist. Just some super easy ways to make sure Yue doesn't die to removal.

Then, while we're in the business of protecting our stuff, we can add some counterspells, like An Offer You Can't RefuseAn Offer You Can't Refuse, NegateNegate, and good ol' CounterspellCounterspell. Two untapped IslandIslands will do twice the work they normally do, by protecting our commander and threatening our opponents' spells.

But to really make sure we're getting our due from Yue, we should give her haste. Even if we pay four mana to cast her and only get to use her once, that's still a huge discount on something like Enter the InfiniteEnter the Infinite. Obviously Swiftfoot BootsSwiftfoot Boots and Lightning GreavesLightning Greaves are gonna be some of the best cards in the deck for both the haste and the protection. Even better, however, might be Thousand-Year ElixirThousand-Year Elixir, which lets us use Yue twice on the turn we play her. We can tap her immediately thanks to the psuedo-haste that the Elixir grants, and then we can untap her with its activated ability and do it again. If we've got enough artifacts on that turn, we could cast two huge spells.

Winning the Game, MORE!

Hey, using Yue twice in a turn is pretty great. I mean, the only thing better than one big spell is two, right? So let's find some more ways to untap her.

The best way to do this is with creatures like Vizier of Tumbling SandsVizier of Tumbling Sands, Kelpie GuideKelpie Guide, and Clever ConjurerClever Conjurer. These guys are absolutely fantastic because they can act as ramp, tap to pay Yue's cost, and, of course, untap her. I love these cards in so many decks because of how versatile they are, and this is another perfect home for them.

The Meat of the Deck

Woah, we're getting a little distracted. We've got all the support we need, but what about the fundamentals? We've got to find some artifacts and creatures to pay for our commander's cost. Now given that this is the hot new set that's coming out, there's already quite a few decks built for The Moon Spirit, but I think a lot of them are doing this part wrong. On EDHREC, I see a ton of zero- and one-mana artifacts that just sit and do nothing. MemniteMemnite? OrnithopterOrnithopter? Darksteel RelicDarksteel Relic?! Seriously? I don't want to draw an opening hand with artifacts that literally do jack until I play my commander on turn four. I'd much rather spend two mana on a Nimblewright SchematicNimblewright Schematic that will make a blocker/attacker, then reduce Yue's cost by two than reduce the cost and my hand size by one with Mishra's BaubleMishra's Bauble.

Making Yue's activated ability cost a mana less is simply not worth having one less card in hand, so instead, we're gonna play slightly more expensive cards that actually do something. All the two-cost mana rocks are great here, even if they're redundant when it comes to reducing the ability cost, but we'll also play a bunch of spells that make tokens, like Prized StatuePrized Statue, Gilded PinionsGilded Pinions, and Hard EvidenceHard Evidence. If we play an Arcane SignetArcane Signet on turn two, plus a Lightning GreavesLightning Greaves and a Prized StatuePrized Statue on turn three, by turn four, we can cast Aminatou's AuguryAminatou's Augury, and that's not even a best case scenario!

Then, for a bit of redundancy, we're gonna include cards like Chief EngineerChief Engineer and Inspiring StatuaryInspiring Statuary so that our abundance of artifacts and creatures don't go to waste when Yue isn't on the board. Plus, our deck ramps pretty well because of how many artifacts we're playing, so hard-casting some of the bigger spells in here isn't out of the question.

Finally, let's talk about all the big exciting spells we're gonna cast. Clone LegionClone Legion, Boom! OmniscienceOmniscience, Boom! Alrund's EpiphanyAlrund's Epiphany and Time StretchTime Stretch, Boom! Yeah, there's really not much to it. If it costs a lot of mana and looks like it does something cool, I put it in here. I did stick with a self-imposed budget of $100, however, so you won't be seeing ExpropriateExpropriate or anything that extravagant, but other than that, I just tossed in whatever I thought would win the game. We've got crazy card draw in The Magic MirrorThe Magic Mirror, ways to make huge creatures in Shark TyphoonShark Typhoon, and ways to win more than we already are in Cast Through TimeCast Through Time.

And that's how you build Elvish PiperElvish Piper in mono-blue. To be honest, this deck turned out way better than I thought it would given how much I've learnt to avoid Elvish PiperElvish Piper. I suppose when you can build around it, the card becomes way better. Also, we're in mono-blue, a color known for defending itself well. Maybe too well. Either way, mission success!